Boys Will Be Boys
by The Pterodactyl
Summary: Sokka, Zuko, and lots of BFFing all over the place.


Wow! Two posts in one day...I'm going crazy...

This is sort of a companion piece to Girl Talk, in the sense that it features the guys where that fic featured the girls. It was also written as a birthday fic for JoJoDancer, who absolutely loved it, I'm proud to say. This was also supposed to be much shorter originally, comparable in length to Girl Talk, b ut i just kept having ideas and kept writng them until...well, it became what you see before you. Enjoy!

* * *

If Sokka had to pick an exact day it started, then he would have to go with the warm, muggy morning he walked into the bathing chambers at the Western Air Temple to see Haru. This in and of itself was not an uncommon thing; Haru was an early riser. Rather, it was the fact that Haru was standing, stripped to his underclothes, staring at his reflection in the chamber's main reservoir, flexing his muscles and stroking his mustache.

The sight caused Sokka, himself in only his short pants, with his tunic and pants under his arm, to snort loudly, which quickly became gales of laughter. Teo looked up from where he was lathering his hair in the pool's far side, and Haru whipped around with a look of embarrassed indignation, his face turning beet red.

"What's so funny?!"

"You!" Sokka choked out, his laughter subsiding to chuckles, as he made his way over to one of the private bathing pools in the room. Once on the other side of the stone partition, he dropped his clothes on the floor, and settled into the warm water. He briefly wondered if Haru wouldn't just collapse the wall on him (he was an Earthbender, after all), but didn't worry about it unduly. He listened to Haru hem and haw and harrumph for a few minutes, accompanied by some angry bathing noises and a few choice words coupled with his name, before he heard Haru help Teo into his wheelchair and they left.

"Ahhh…" Sokka exhaled, putting his hands behind his head, and savoring the tranquil sound of running water. It wasn't often he got quiet moments like this, and he planned to fully enjoy it. But as it happened, Sokka found his mind wandering to a more serious subject.

Seeing Haru right then had struck something in Sokka, and it wasn't just the immense hilarity of the image. Haru had been the first boy Sokka had ever met that was close to his own age. Way back when Aang was just a goofy kid, and Katara was still his little sister in need of protection, and it was just the three of them on Appa more or less just having adventures, dodging Zuk0, when he was still Prince Zuko, and things were just generally simpler, they'd run into Haru. And Haru had served to drive a point home, for Sokka at least. This wasn't just some nasty scar-faced brat and his band of cronies they were dealing with, it was a real, live, evil nation full of people who were more than willing to take advantage of innocent, everyday people. It was sobering.

At the time, Sokka had really felt for Haru. Maybe not as much as Katara, and he definitely didn't show it as much as her (he was a man, and men knew to keep their feelings on the inside), but he still felt for him. But something kept him from really reaching out, bridging the gap, so to speak. He and Haru could've been good friends, maybe should've…but they hadn't been, and still weren't, even though he'd been with them for a good few weeks now. And maybe the little thing Sokka had caught Haru doing was it in a nutshell: Haru still admired his reflection, Sokka didn't. Haru spent his time running up and down the Temple corridors with Teo and The Duke, and Sokka spent his time planning their next move on the Fire Nation. In short, Haru was still a kid in many ways, looking to have fun, while Sokka was just too occupied with urgent matters.

Sokka shook his head. Haru already had his little unit, with Teo and The Duke. And that was how it was going to stay. Sokka didn't need to be a part of that.

The purposeful, heavy footsteps of the newest member of their ragtag team sounded in the outer room. Sokka peered around the partition to see Zuko, clothes in a pile next to him, standing at one of the aqueducts that connected the main reservoir and the private pools, washing his face.

Now, Zuko, on the other hand…Sokka thought to himself. Well, he was still the Angry Jerk to Sokka, and he still had far too many angsty issues to work out, but so far he'd proven himself to be a pretty capable guy. At the very least, Aang finally had someone to give him the firebending lessons he so desperately needed. Sokka didn't really know why, but he found himself climbing out of the pool, dressing, and going to stand next to Zuko.

"Hey, Zuko."

"Um…Good morning, Sokka."

Sokka smiled a little. "Nice day, huh?"

Zuko nodded, returning his attention to his washing. "It's going to be a hot day."

"How can you tell?" Sokka raised an eyebrow, genuinely curious.

"I'm a Firebender," Zuko said matter-of-factly, as if this was the answer to all life's little questions. "We're connected to the sun the same way your sister and the other Waterbenders are to the moon. I can sense things."

"Ah," Sokka said, mostly because he didn't really get it, but wasn't about to let that on. He didn't understand his sister's magic water mumbo-jumbo, much less the spirituality of the bending of his enemies. Although, he probably should, since it was a big factor in their way of life, and every good warrior knew that knowing your enemy was the key to besting him.

Right then, Sokka came to a decision. He was going to get to know Zuko. And although he told himself that it was just so he could learn more about Firebenders in general, and that he still didn't trust Zuko, a little voice inside him knew better, and began laughing uproariously at his justifications.

&

"Aang, you know what? We really haven't spent much time together, lately. I think we should, y'know, just a little Avatar and Boomerang Guy time. What do you think?"

Aang regarded Sokka with a mix of curiosity and incredulity. He was covered in dirt from his Earthbending lesson with Toph, and looked rather beat. His posture was not up to its usual level of energy, anyway. Sokka seized the moment, and began steering Aang down one of the corridors of the Temple by the shoulders.

"Sokka, what are you talking about? We just took that long walk yesterday back from your hunting trip."

Sokka winced. His knee still hurt, even after Katara had given it the glow-y treatment. "Let's not talk about that."

"Of course, you didn't actually catch anything, and I had to get you unstuck from that—"

"I said I don't want to talk about it!" Sokka sighed once. "Now, Aang, what I figured I'd do with this precious time together was to teach you a skill that none of your bending masters can impart to you, because two of them are girls, and one is…well, he can't help you here, let's put it that way. I'm about to impart the secrets of one of the manliest of the manly arts…SHAVING!"

His timing couldn't have been better, as they entered the bathing chambers just as he made his proclamation. Aang's brow furrowed.

"But I know how to shave, Sokka."

Sokka snorted. "You do not—"

"Yes, I do. I shave my head all the time." Aang pulled free and spun to show Sokka his gleaming, arrow-adorned scalp. "How do you think I stay bald? It's an Air Nomad tradition."

"True," Sokka admitted, and he stroked his chin, "but the head and the jaw are two totally different beasts, and you're going to need the help of a real man to tame the latter." He grabbed Aang and started steering him again.

"And just what exactly were you referring to with that horrific analogy?"

Sokka glanced over his shoulder to see the Angry Jerk himself entering the room behind them, his sack of personal items dangling from his hand. Sokka drew himself up, a hand still on Aang's shoulder.

"I'm teaching Aang how to shave. He needs my help, you see." Aang's reply of, "No, I don't!" was stifled by a cough and a grin from Sokka, but needn't have bothered, as Zuko began laughing.

"You? What do you know about shaving? It can't be much…your facial hair is even more pathetic than Haru's."

"That's because I shave often! I'll have you know that I can grow a beard in a day!"

"Yeah, maybe if you use that dead rodent you call a fake beard that you keep in your bag…"

"Whatever, Sparky…we don't have to listen to this. C'mon, Aang…"

But of course, they ended up right at the same spot on the aqueduct, Sokka and Zuko glaring at each other, Aang wondering how in the world this always happened when he hung out with Sokka.

Sokka took out a bag of soap crystals from his belt and poured some in the water, stirring to get a good lather going. Then he began spreading some on his face. "See, Aang, you have to get a nice, thick layer going, otherwise, the stubble won't cut right."

Aang obligingly scooped some lather out and began rubbing it over his jaw. "Like this?"

Sokka frowned. "No, you need more. It needs to be thick, really thick, see?" He reached out and began applying more foam to Aang's face, until everything save his eyes and his arrow was obscured. "There, you go…"

"He looks like my grandfather."

Sokka glared at Zuko, and was mildly horrified to see that he had lathered his face up as well, and was whetting his dagger on the stone edge of the channel. "No one asked you! Now, Aang, you need a nice, sharp edge to cut with…" He pulled him boomerang from his belt and began carefully, very carefully, veeeerrrry slowly dragging the blade's edge against his cheek, face screwed up, wincing until he finished, when he let out a satisfied sigh. There was an audible snort from Zuko, and Sokka was again mortified to see him smoothly drawing his dagger across his face, giving it a flick after each pass to rid the blade of foam.

"Don't listen to him, Aang," Zuko said in a voice that, if one wanted to be polite, would be called haughty. "When it comes to shaving lather, less is more. And, while a sharp edge is good, technique is by far the most important thing. A good sharp blade can just as easily cut you, after all. It's kind of like Firebending. You have to respect the blade, just like the flame, or it will hurt you….just like that."

Sokka whimpered in pain, having just nicked himself with his boomerang. He felt his face getting red, and was really considering forgoing the shaving lesson in favor of a good sparring match. There was no way he was going to let this slide.

"Here, Aang," Sokka said flippantly, shoving the boomerang into Aang's hands. "One of the best things about shaving is that you can shave with just about anything sharp you have handy. A real man is never at a loss for a good edge to trim his beard." And with that, plus a much overdone flourish, he unsheathed his sword from the scabbard on his back, grinning in wicked triumph. Let's see Angry Jerk compete with this.

Aang's eyes went wide, while Zuko did his best to cover his ensuing laughing fit with a terribly fake sounding cough. "Um, Sokka, I don't think you need to shave with your sword. You can use the boomerang, I've learned plenty already." Aang smiled a placating smile, and tried to hand the boomerang back, but Sokka waved him off.

"Nonsense, Aang, you go ahead. I've got this covered." Sokka took one last glance at Zuko, who was still going through the motions of shaving and stoically refusing to look at him, before drawing back and swinging his sword at his face.

&

Toph was sitting in the Temple courtyard, enjoying the feel of the wind spiraling up from the canyon below, when she heard a piercing shriek.

"SOKKA!" Katara shouted, running past and into the depths of the Temple.

Toph laughed so hard, she fell off her seat.

&

This, Sokka thought, was like the setup to a bad joke come to life: a girl, a guy, the Avatar, and the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation walk into a bar…

Not that anyone knew it was them. He, Toph, Aang and Zuko were all wearing hooded cloaks, although at the moment all their hoods were down, and Aang was wearing a worn bandanna to cover his arrow. Sokka had objected to Zuko having his hood down, but Zuko had reassured him that the majority of Fire Nation folk had no clue what the royal family looked like, aside from the likenesses of Ozai in public places, just that they were supposed to be extremely attractive. When Sokka had brought up the scar, Zuko had said that people knew he was banished, not that he had a scar, and in any case, lots of people had scars like that.

The foursome sat down at a table in the corner, looking nervously around them. Or at least, Sokka was. Toph could've cared less, and Zuko was in his element. Aang appeared to be attempting to follow his master's example.

The four had come to this dank little tavern in a nowhere town in the Fire Nation to see if they couldn't gather a little more intel on their way to the showdown with Ozai. Zuko had been the one to suggest the idea, and had volunteered to go himself, since whatever gossip they picked up would likely be more easily interpreted by him, being from the Fire Nation. Sokka had volunteered to go as backup, which Zuko had balked at; saying that there was no way Sokka would be able to handle himself. Sokka had immediately shot back, and the two would've gotten into a fight if Toph hadn't volunteered to go as well, to keep them both in line. Of course, neither Sokka nor Zuko was willing to let Toph go with them, but a stubborn Toph was as likely to change her mind as the sun was to stop rising and setting.

And then Aang had said he was going, too. This was met with a unanimous no by all present, with the usual accompanying justifications: he was the Avatar, it was too dangerous for him to go into enemy territory like this, etc., etc., to which Aang had replied that he WAS the Avatar, and he was tired of letting that get in the way of his duty to protect people, so he was going, and that was that.

So there they all were. Sokka shook his head. Four people on a recon mission? That was just a little excessive.

Zuko waved his hand to get the waiter's attention. "Hey!"

The waiter scurried over. "Yes, sir?"

Zuko pointed around the table. "We'll have a round of beers, please."

Toph punched him in the arm. "Hey, who says I'm having what you're having?" Zuko threw her a confused look that obviously had no effect, as Toph said to the waiter, "I'll have a Flying Hogmonkey with a shot of moonpeach liquor, on the rocks."

The waiter gave her a look that mirrored Zuko's. "Yes, ma'am," he said slowly, before scurrying off again.

Toph apparently correctly interpreted their silences as staring because she said, "What? You hang out with those Earth Rumble guys long enough, you pick up on a few things."

The waiter came back with their drinks a few minutes later. While Sokka, Zuko, and Aang all had mugs of amber liquid, Toph was brought a huge tankard filled with a greenish drink, iced down, with a moonpeach slice floating in it. She immediately began gulping it down.

Sokka took a tentative sip of his drink and nearly choked. Who would drink this stuff? He looked over at Zuko and saw him calmly drinking his beer without a thought, and scowled. Fine. If Angry Jerk could do it, then so could he. Sokka tossed back his head and chugged the contents of his mug, slamming the empty vessel on the table with a gasp and a bang. "Hey, waiter, gimme another!" he yelled in his best manly tavern-going voice.

Zuko raised an eyebrow at him, and called for a refill as well.

Half an hour later, the table was littered with empty mugs, Toph had mysteriously disappeared, Zuko and Sokka were arguing loudly over the state of Fire Nation foreign policy, and Aang, having not touched his first drink, was looking rather apprehensive.

"Uh, guys…?" Zuko and Sokka continued to argue.

"Well, if the Fire Lord's reaction to EVERY problem he had wasn't to go out and torch the guy responsible, maybe we wouldn't be in this mess!"

"HEY! His advisors have just as much to do with it!"

"Guys…?" Aang began sinking down in his seat.

Zuko and Sokka were suddenly interrupted by a loud cheer from across the room, heralding the return of Toph, cloak discarded, clutching a large bag of money and trailed by what looked like half the bar.

She seated herself back at the table, dropping the bag of money on the floor beside her. The crowd gathered around her, cheering and singing disjointed drunken tunes. Sokka gaped.

"Where the hell have you been?" he yelled over the din.

"Entertaining the locals," Toph grinned manically. A little boy bounced up, babbling excitedly, and Toph obligingly rolled her sleeve back to flex her skinny, muscular arm for him. When he skipped away, and the crowd dispersed, Toph returned to smiling at her tablemates. "Some big jerk was accepting challenges to armwrestle him. A little Earthbending, and that guy went down like a bag of hammers. And I got all the bet money."

Aang looked horrified. "You did what?! What if somebody saw you?! And why are mentioning Earthbending out loud?!"

Toph snorted. "Lighten up, Twinkletoes. Have a drink, or better yet, have a few."

Aang scowled and crossed his arms. Zuko looked uninterested, but Sokka's face lit up at Toph's story.

"That's awesome! How did you keep them from noticing your trick?"

"I just kind of…kicked him under the table."

Sokka grinned. "Niiice."

"Excuse me, miss?"

The foursome looked up to see a middle aged, bearded man standing over them, looking at Toph. She cocked her head slightly in his direction. "What do you want, Gramps?"

The man chuckled and pulled up a chair from a nearby table. Zuko looked suspiciously at him, but moved over to make room. "Oh, nothing," the man said, "I just wanted to tell you how impressed I was with your performance over there. To think that a little girl like you could take down such a massive brute as that man."

Toph smiled smugly. "Are you kidding? Have you seen these guns? Nothing little about them." She rolled up her sleeves to show the man her muscles.

The man chuckled again. "Quite impressive. But I must say, I don't think your victory had anything to do with your strength. Rather I think it had to do with your interesting Earthbending ability."

Zuko and Sokka stiffened, and Aang looked like he was ready to strangle Toph. But Toph merely laughed, not sounding the least bit apprehensive. "Earthbending? What are you talking about? I'm just a tough country girl who's a lot stronger than she looks. Nothing more to it." As if to emphasize her point, she took a swig from one of the half filled tankards scattered on the table. "Don't know anything about Earthbending or anything like that."

"Is that so? Than perhaps you can explain to me why you're sitting to the right of the most powerful being on the planet?" The man gave Aang a piercing look. "Isn't that right, Avatar?"

Several things happened very fast. As if on cue, the door to the kitchen and the entrance to the tavern burst open, and soldiers clad in death's head masks began pouring into the room. Zuko and Sokka lunged at the man, but succeed only in butting heads very hard and collapsing to the floor. Toph summoned a column of earth that upended the table, pinning the man beneath it, as Aang leapt to his feet, falling into an Airbending stance in response to the sudden invasion.

"There he is!" one of the soldiers shouted, and Aang realized too late that his headband had come loose. He whirled his hands, creating a small vortex that redirected the shots fired at him by several Firebenders.

On the floor, Zuko and Sokka were moaning and rubbing their heads.

"Owww…why'd you go after him? He was mine," Sokka growled.

"You're too drunk to see straight, let alone capture someone," Zuko snapped.

"Oh, and you're not?"

Zuko thought a moment. "Maybe." He stood, settling into a defensive posture. "But I think now we should focus on getting out of here."

Sokka stood and drew his sword. "Sounds like a plan."

The two stood back to back, facing Firebenders on all sides. Sokka lashed out at one with a powerful downward strike that completely missed; he blinked in confusion before realizing that his target was taking advantage of his dropped guard to throw a fireball at him. Sokka screamed and ducked behind Zuko, who whirled in time to catch the flame and dissipate it.

"Maybe I am too drunk for this," Sokka mused, swinging his sword wildly to the side, catching an enemy in the helmet and knocking him to the ground. He moved to put Zuko between him and the soldiers before they could retaliate. Zuko expertly redirected their blasts and sent a few of his own out, toppling two more guards.

"You think?" Zuko took a more aggressive stance, hooking his foot around the leg of a nearby table and pulling. He sent a short burst at the alcohol flying from upset mugs and tankards, and the resulting cloud of flame cleared a path through the soldiers. "GO!" Zuko yelled, grabbing Sokka by the hood of his cloak and throwing him in the direction of the escape route. Sokka wasted no time in running for the exit, yelling in panic, as the hem of his cloak had caught fire from some wayward attack. Zuko ran after him, reaching out and closing his fist. The flames on Sokka's cloak fizzled and died.

Another group of guards appeared, blocking the door, but were immediately blown aside by a powerful gale. Aang appeared from the side, skidding on the floor and grabbing the door frame to stop himself. "Let's get out of here!" he yelled, not stopping to look at Zuko or Sokka. Toph was right behind him, followed by the drunken twosome.

The four emerged from the tavern and found that the town had fallen into total chaos. What seemed to be an entire battalion of the Fire Nation's finest had descended on the little burg with the aim of capturing the Avatar.

"There!" Aang pointed, and took off in the direction of the town entrance, which was almost a straight shot from the tavern door. As they ran, the massive metal gates began to slowly grind shut. Sokka shrieked in terror.

"The gates are closing!"

"No, really?" Zuko shouted. "We hadn't noticed." They were still twenty feet away when the portal sealed, locking them in. Firebenders and archers lined up on the walls of the town, fists and arrows aimed down at them.

"We're trapped!" Sokka yelled in panic. "This is it guys! We're DOOMED!"

"Shut up, Snoozles, I got this! Cover me!" Toph ran full on towards the gates. Aang sprinted after her, using Airbending to block shots fired at them. Toph didn't stop when she met the gates, instead ramming her hands into the metal surface, grunting and straining.

Zuko looked over in time to see Toph give a mighty heave, and pull the entire left gate off its hinges, shaking the wall and causing several soldiers to fall to the ground. For a second, Toph just stood there, a five foot tall girl wielding a thirty foot slab of metal. Then she tossed it, and the soldiers all sprinted to get out of the way. Zuko and Sokka ran too, towards their escape. The metal gate hit the ground just as they passed the wall, the shockwave almost knocking them to the ground. They staggered through it and continued running.

The four hid out in the forest bordering the town, dodging Fire Nation patrols as they made their way across the river in the woods and back towards camp. When they were far enough away that they could stop and rest, they collapsed behind a huge fallen tree. Toph began grinning.

"See? Wasn't it a good idea to bring me along? If I hadn't been there, you guys would've been totally screwed. I knew these guns would come in handy." She flexed her muscles again.

Aang stood up, and calmly delivered a hard smack to the heads of each of his companions. As they groaned, he shouted, "That was the stupidest and most pointless mission ever! We didn't learn a thing and we almost got captured! And," he pointed at Toph, "If you and your "guns" hadn't been there, we wouldn't have been in that situation in the first place!" He sat down in a huff. "I am never going to a bar again. _Never_. I always wondered why the monks said alcohol was a deadly vice, and now I know why…" He trailed off, grumbling.

Sokka smiled at Zuko. "That was pretty awesome, wasn't it?"

Zuko nodded appreciatively. "Yeah, I guess it was."

"All that fighting back to back stuff, and me hitting 'em with my sword, while you hit 'em with your fire, and we totally kicked butt and it was amazing." He held up his fist, and Zuko pounded it. "Good job buddy."

Zuko grinned. "You too."

Toph smiled at the assembled group. "Hey, any of you guys wanna armwrestle?"

"NO!"


End file.
